This past weekend De La Soul gave away their entire back
catalog digitally for free. All of their standard albums and a set of
instrumentals, B sides and rarities were put out with this special Valentines
day release. I think it comes out to eight or ten albums total.
If you preordered the best of My Chemical Romance album the
single from the album has been put out. You can get it for free if you
preordered it or you can get it from your favorite MP3 distributor.
Beck has also put out the third single from his album along
with being able to listen to the album in advance at NPR First Listen. The
third single is called Wave.
The Graveface Road Show has encountered a problem with a car
accident last week. I am still hoping that they will be here for the Minneapolis
date next week. I am assuming it is still on as there hasn’t been any cancellation info yet.
Here we go...
This is a three track 7” EP that Slumberland Records
released in 1992. I found out about the release last week when the record
company posted about the release in recognition of their 25 year anniversary. I
found that the release was still in stock at Slumberland so I bought one. I
have been a big fan of Slumberland ever since I found out that they were the
company that was releasing the music for The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. I
have found so many other artists that I like through this record company.
The first song is called Till Another Time. The song start
off with a brief intro that sounds dark and electronic. It then moves on to
fuzzy guitars and soaring synth parts. The vocals are perfect and sound like
she is standing in the mouth of a cave. It is a very cool sound indeed.
The second track is called I Just Had To. This one also
starts off with a electronic intro but sounds more like a cheap Casio loop.
The guitar then comes in with a nice jangle pop sound along with a straight
forward bass guitar sound. The vocals still sound like she is standing in the
entrance of a cave though. The song reminds me of a trashier version of a song
that The Smiths did called Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want.
The last song on the EP is called In This. This track
continues with the jangle pop theme. What really gets me with this track is the
use of two different sounding tambourines that are played alternating sounds
all the way through the song. The vocals on this one seem a bit more close up.
There is still a bit of echo but not as much as the other two tracks.
This is a very cool EP that I wish I had known about when it
was released. As a side note, it was released in a cool dark blue swirl but
that was not in stock twenty plus years later.
This is a new, to me, group that was started in Minnesota.
This is actually their seventh album. I found out about the group from my
mother-in-law. She works with one of the members of the groups mother, I think.
I was given the CD for free quite a while ago. I sat on the album for quite a
while because I don’t usually like what my mother-in-law likes musically and
she really liked this album. I finally listened to the album and it impressed me
a lot. This is what I know about the group from their facebook page,
“Minneapolis-based rock band cathy Crescendo centers around the dynamic vocals
of Jacob Champlin and the unique production/engineering of Adam Kiesling. Their
latest release “Expensive Ink” is their 7th album as a partnership. Their sound
has progressed from a somewhat quirky folk project along the vein of Death Cab
for Cutie and The Decemberists, to its current sound which has been frequently
compared to Brand New, Jimmy Eat World and Taking
Back Sunday.
Much like the evolution of artists like Pedro the Lion/David Bazan or Manchester Orchestra, cC explores the complexity of departing from one’s faith in a gripping and identifiable way that people of all backgrounds can relate to. Champlin spent his early 20's as a worship leader for a large church until he was asked to step down for asking disruptive questions; it was this that led him to question his faith. That struggle was made more difficult when he was diagnosed with serious vocal cord damage that made singing nearly impossible. After several surgeries and 3 years of recovery, Champlin emerged with his most ambitious material to date. “Expensive Ink” is a rock album you will want to add to your collection.”
Much like the evolution of artists like Pedro the Lion/David Bazan or Manchester Orchestra, cC explores the complexity of departing from one’s faith in a gripping and identifiable way that people of all backgrounds can relate to. Champlin spent his early 20's as a worship leader for a large church until he was asked to step down for asking disruptive questions; it was this that led him to question his faith. That struggle was made more difficult when he was diagnosed with serious vocal cord damage that made singing nearly impossible. After several surgeries and 3 years of recovery, Champlin emerged with his most ambitious material to date. “Expensive Ink” is a rock album you will want to add to your collection.”
The album is ten tracks of
questioning ones faith with songs about the Father/”my father”, unfinished
buildings and flight to name a few ideas on the album. The album has a very
cohesive sound. That sound is reminiscent of the early emo sound from the late
90s. I really like that sound. I wasn’t an “emo kid” but I liked the music that
was made that falls into that genre.
I have no idea where to get this
album except maybe at a local Minnesota record store like Cheapo, The Electric
Fetus or Down In The Valley possibly.
This is the debut album from Rockwell. It was released in
1984 on Motown Records. I picked up this record recently at one of the half
priced books that I frequent. The record was in good condition so I bought it
along with a few others.
There were two singles released from this album. The first
one is called Somebody’s Watching Me. This was a big hit and I remember
watching the video on MTV as a kid. I thought the song was so cool. I, along
with every other American at the time, thought it was so cool that Michael
Jackson helped out on the songs chorus. This song has always been on my mind
and I have been looking for the album for a while.
The second single from the album is called Obscene PhoneCaller. This song was nowhere near as strong of a hit as his first single. It
comes off as very cheesy but that is what I would expect from a single from
1984.
This is the second album from Lisa Lisa And Cult Jam. The
album was released in 1987. This was their biggest hit record because of the
first two singles. The second of these two singles has been on my mind since
its release and I finely found a copy of this album this past week (It was one
of the few others).
There were five singles released from this album. The first
is called Head To Toe. The song is
classic late 80s synth pop. Lisa sings that she loves someone from head to toe.
It is a sweet song with easy to translate meanings. The song is completely
dated because of the electronic sounds used but I don’t think I would have it
any other way.
The second single from the album is called Lost In Emotion.
This song was the most musical for me. It is smooth flowing and uses soft
vocals overall. one of the members of the band had this to say about the song
(Pulled from Wikipedia), “Full Force member Lou George describes Lost in
Emotion as a combination of two Mary Wells' hits: Two Lovers and You Beat Me to
the Punch, an idea which occurred to George as the result of his playing Wells'
Greatest Hits album on which Two Lovers and You Beat Me to the Punch
were sequential tracks. George - "We didn't steal the riffs: all we did
was get the flavoring...We [used] a xylophone and some bells because back in
the Motown days they always used those simple instruments."”
The third single from the album is called Someone To Love MeFor Me. It is true old school slow and sappy. A lot of people love this style
of music. I didn’t even like it when Michael Jackson did these type of songs.
These songs just don’t move me at all.
The next single is called Everything Will B-Fine. It is a
more peppier song than the previous single but is very dated with the staccato
synth bass line, the guitar sound and the use of broken samples. It is a good
song but doesn’t have that number one smash hit single sound that the first two
had.
The last single is called I Promise You. This is a fun track
musically than the previous two in my opinion. The drum beat is what makes the
track work. I could see this song as a single but it is just not musically as
beautiful as the first two releases again.
Overall, this is a fun album that doesn’t get enough play
because it is so dated. I do recommend this album as it is good and has a
couple of great singles.
This is the first album from Cutting Crew. It was released
in 1986. The album had one single that was just huge all over the world but
there were four singles total on the album.
The first single is called (I Just) Died In Your Arms. This
is the song that meant the most to me. It is, of course, about a guy that fell
in love with a girl because of a kiss that they had on a date, or something
like that. Although the song uses heavy synth sounds the song doesn’t seem to
be dated to my ear. This may be because there are still a lot of bands and musicians
that still use that classic synth sound the way that it is used here on this
song. The guitar sound that is used over the synth part is a very classic 80s
sound that bands are still using today making this song not only a classic but
still relevant today.
The second single from the album is called One For TheMockingbird. This track comes off a bit more dated with the use of a very 80s
synth sound that was not so sought after when the 90s arrived. The chorus
didn’t really translate well either. No one understood what “One for the
mockingbird” meant. At least I didn’t and, since the song didn’t chart well, I
can only assume that a lot of other people didn’t either.
The third single from the album is called I’ve Been In LoveBefore. This is a song that I had forgotten about. This is a slow and sappy
song that I actually like. There is something about the vocals and the music
work together. It may also be that I had a break up with a girl in middle
school combined with my own depression growing up that was never treated. The
song has come to mean a lot but I only seem to remember this when I hear the
song. I guess it brings back good memories and bad memories, bittersweet.
The last single is called Any Colour. This song fits their
style but doesn’t hit that amazing single sound. It was like a filler song was
put out as a single to get people to buy the album. The song gets to be very
repetitive and I very nearly want to just turn it off.
The album is very good overall but the two songs really make
the album.
That is all for now...
No comments:
Post a Comment